Joystiq - Study: One in Four White Collar Workers Games at Work

September 10th, 2007, 02:23

Joystiq presents a short article on what everyone is really doing at work when no one is watching-- but don't worry, the boss is doing it, too:

The study, conducted by Information Solutions Group, found that 24 percent of white collar workers played games while on the job. More surprising (or perhaps less, depending on how cynical you are) a full 35 percent of the senior executives surveyed said they gamed at work. Of those who played at work, 53 percent said they did so at least once a day and 14 percent admitted they played during business meetings or conference calls. The overwhelming majority of work gamers said they did it to "feel more relaxed and less stressed out."

Part of my job used to involve stopping people from playing games at work. This, as one would expect, had a negative effect. So now the compromise is we let people have access to games from 12 to 1, should they choose to use them. Not all do, but I would guess at the majority.

They stay happy, I can focus on other things, and my boss stays happy. Let people play games for a bit at work and everybody wins.

I do, but i can only play Fastcrawl or maybe some simple flash game or something like that. I tried putting Majesty, Diablo II, and Fallout, and it just doesnt work. If I try and play a "real" game such as those on my lunch break, by the time I get into it in earnest, I have to quit. If I try and sneak a bit of it while I'm working, I cant get involved enough to make it worth the risk.

I just remembered that this summer I started re-playing Scott Adams adventures. Since they are text and definitely turn based you can stop playing and come back in an hour and resume where you left off.

After 6pm the calls slow down to a crawl so if I'm not talking hockey on IM (with the guy playing Simcity I) it gives me a chance to finish something I've been working on for 20 years.

However, school is back in so if I get free time now it gives me a chance to work on homework.

I'm a lame duck employee anyway and I have to remind myself whenever I feel guilty that my productivity is through the roof compared to most of the rest of the employees.